make vs. buy wheels

[David Guzman]

Originally Posted by RMS11

O, and how much did those wheels actually weigh?

I think our 2006 wheels were like 0.28 lbs a piece, those are the ones drew posted. They were 5" in diameter and 2" wide.

Our 2007 wheels were 0.18 lbs a piece, 4" OD and 1" wide.

Since 2006 we have been making our own wheels and will probably continue to do so. For us, it is much cheaper to make them then to buy any of the ones that are in the market right now. They are also much lighter.

Overall UHMW worked good, but after some time the bearings began to get a little lose on the counter bores. The wheels were very tough, in fact in my opinion they handle impact better than our new aluminum wheels.

Best picture I could find of our 2007 wheels: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/27927

For 2008 we decided to go with aluminum because we wanted to run them on live axles with a 1/8 key. There aren't any good pictures of them online. I will try to find one and upload it.